David Moyes says Everton will attract neutrals in FA Cup semi-final

David Moyes, the Everton manager, said: 'If they had the choice, any of the other three teams would have said they wanted to play Everton.' Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

David Moyes believes Everton have the support of neutrals in their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool after reaching Wembley without the transfer budgets of their wealthier Premier League rivals.

"The neutral would want Everton to win," said Moyes. "The neutrals look at Everton and see the way we have tried to build the club, tried to develop the team. It gives hope to many other clubs. I'm not saying it is the right way but it is our way. It has been done with real hard graft. It has taken a length of period – that's why we have not been in enough semi-finals and finals."

Everton's season has been revitalised by the January signings of Nikica Jelavic, who has scored five goals in seven starts since his £5.5m move from Rangers, and Darron Gibson, a £500,000 acquisition from Manchester United, plus the loan arrivals of Landon Donovan and Steven Pienaar. January's business was offset by the £5m sale of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to Spartak Moscow after the manager had entered the campaign without signing a single player on a permanent deal.

Moyes's team are a point and a place above Liverpool in the Premier League, despite the Anfield club investing almost £120m on new players since January 2011. Damien Comolli paid the price for that largesse by losing his job as Liverpool's director of football on Thursday.

Moyes admits the neutrals' choice would also have been that of Kenny Dalglish, Harry Redknapp and Roberto Di Matteo before the draw for the semi-finals. "If they had the choice, any of the other three teams would have said they wanted to play Everton," he added. "That's fine. I'm a football man. I understand that. They know they will get a hard game, against a tough side. We will have to go and play as well or not better than we are playing if we are going to reach the final."

Everton have not won a trophy since the 1995 FA Cup and Moyes hopes a Wembley showcase against Liverpool, with a return on offer for the final on 5 May, will enhance the chairman Bill Kenwright's prospects of selling the club. New investment, or the lack of it, will be a factor in whether Moyes decides to commit to a new contract at Goodison Park this summer.

He said: "Globally it can certainly help Everton the more we can show we are competing with the big clubs in the Premier League, although I thought that in the last Cup final [against Chelsea in 2009] and nothing came from that day.

"I have always been keen to take Everton back to the days when they were a great football club and were one of the biggest clubs. I keep changing. One year I think we are getting close, the next we drop away. At the start of this year we looked as if we were making little progress – if anything we were fading away. But it's great credit to the players, they dug in.

"When you find a way of winning, you come out the other end, get a bit of form, consistency, then your style improves – and when your style improves everyone talks about your team. We are moving in that direction at the moment."

The story of five Merseyside derbies at Wembley

Milk Cup final, 25 March 1984

Liverpool 0-0 Everton

More than 100,000 attended the first ever Wembley Merseyside derby. They didn't see a goal. But Evertonians recall Alan Hansen handling a goalbound shot from Graeme Sharp, only to go unpunished. Liverpool won a Maine Road replay 1-0

Charity Shield, 18 August 1984

Everton 1-0 Liverpool

The first goal scored at Wembley in this fixture was by Bruce Grobbelaar, after Sharp's second-half strike pinballed off Hansen on to the goalkeeper's shin, before flying into the Liverpool goal. But Reds could have no complaints. Howard Kendall's Everton dominated the match, as they did the league that season, romping home 13 points clear of their city rivals

FA Cup final, 10 May 1986

Liverpool 3-1 Everton

Kenny Dalglish had already enjoyed a fairytale first season as player-manager, scoring the goal at Chelsea that returned the title to Anfield. But after Gary Lineker's early strike, a Double looked out of reach. Then Jan Molby began to orchestrate play majestically, having a hand in two Ian Rush goals and helping to secure a stunning Double celebration

Charity Shield, 16 August 1986

Liverpool 1-1 Everton

Wembley was becoming a second home for scousers. Adrian Heath's 80th-minute strike looked to have given Everton a second Charity Shield win over Liverpool in two years but Rush equalised seven minutes later and the shield was shared

FA Cup final, 20 May 1989

Everton 2-3 Liverpool

It was a month after Hillsborough and it was fitting that Liverpool played Everton, whose fans had shared the city's grief, in the final. John Aldridge struck after four minutes but the next four goals were scored by substitutes Stuart McCall and Rush. McCall equalised in the 89th minute then Rush scored either side of a sumptuous McCall volley in extra time to secure an emotional win Gregg Roughley

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